How long can depression last?
I'm severely depressed and I'm on medication for it and I see the doctor every 2 weeks, but I've had depression for years I'm 19 and its getting worse I've only recently got help! But nothing goes right for me, I honestly work hard, put everyone before me I always have but I always get used and slated I can't take it anymore!
Answers & Comments
It can last forever or a few months even a day.
Relying on medication only as the solution to your depression is not going to help. Medication is there to 'take the edge of things' or to make it a little easier to do things, but this is were you have to dig deep and find some determination from somewhere or something and start putting that into your life.
Keeping busy, making future goals and targets, joining online groups like this one (this is what I do to help my depression). Exercise is always a good one and changing your diet. Eating healthier plus it gives you something to do creating a meal rather than heating something up.
Most importantly, ask your doctor about therapy there are all different kinds, your dr can suggest the best one for you.
Combine all these three together and you will have a much better chance of overcoming depression. It is hard but it not impossible.
You should realize that pessimism is one of the symptoms. Somebody says it can last for 5 years and you might assume that it's going to. Keep thinking about getting better soon. This is not the kind of illness where you wake up one morning happily surprised that it's all over. Recovery is gradual. But you can notice improvement from week to week or even day to day. When you have two good days in a row, that's a very good sign.
Basically, there are three kinds of treatment - medication, therapy, and lifestyle. There are different kinds of therapy, but you can easily find out about that on your own. I'd like to tell you about lifestyle, because it's not unusual for this to be overlooked by doctors and therapists.
You may have read books for depressed people. Typically, these books have a page or two devoted to diet and exercise. The diet things are always different from one book to another. To the best of my knowledge, the only self help author who has undertaken a comprehensive and systematic approach to lifestyle is Stephen Ilardi, the therapist and researcher who developed Therapeutic Lifestyle Change at the Univ of Kansas. You can read about it at the U of Kansas TLC website or the book Depression Cure by Dr Ilardi.
You might take a look at the program and say that you can't do all of it but doing all of it is not necessary. Aerobic exercise is great but any exercise is good. Also, much of the program is easy (bright light, fish oil capsules) or downright fun (music, hobbies).
I'll give you an example. This is just one of the program's recommendations - bright light therapy. This NY Times tells about an amazing study. A scientist is quoted as saying "The effect sizes we found in this study are comparable to those reported for antidepressants, so I think efficacy is of comparable magnitude.”
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/light-the...
Under lifestyle we could put things like meditation and Tai Chi exercise.
If you go to MBCT.com, you can find out about a program in which cognitive therapy has been combined with a traditional form of meditation called mindfulness. You can see the evidence that supports it. They talk about a popular book the researchers have written, The Mindful Way Through Depression.
Studies have shown that certain self help books really do help people. In particular, The Feeling Good Handbook by Dr David Burns has been shown to be effective, according to research cited in Handbook of Self Help Therapies. Actually a book like this can help depressed people in more than one way. When people are depressed, it may seem to them that they can't read, whereas reading becomes interesting if they a find a book that means something to them personally. That's a more stimulating passtime than watching dumb TV shows. It's called engaging activity and it's therapeutic.
Im nearly 30 I've been on medication for about three years but I was undiagnosed for 20 years. I'll more than likely be on them forever and needing therapy for a long time to come. Some people have one episode in their life others like me more or less constantly depressed at fluctuating levels but I'm considered to be severe but 'normal' whatever that is in my case is around moderate to high moderate. Its when I start thinking people are out to get me is when I need to head for a professional I'm about to self refer for the third time.
It's unlikely but it can last for well over 5 years.